A Couple's Revenge
by AngelofSilkenRoses
Summary: AU - Not long after Sigyn has left Asgard, she is forced to help SHIELD find Loki. But can they trust her?
1. Prequel: Banishment

**Well, this is my first EVER fic! :D Anyhow, the whole story is basically an alt universe from the Avengers film, i.e. Loki never killed Laufey etc etc :P This chapter is the prequel to my main plot, basically explaining why Sigyn just happened to be where she was to begin with :) Enjoy! x x**

**Btw! I would also like to give credit to my awesome friend and housemate Kit (aka princesspomegranate) for all her help getting my first fic started :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing (sadly!). Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers _movie and Marvel...etc :D**

* * *

_I knew it would come to this, _Sigyn thought to herself as she walked along the corridor that led to the throne room. It was a walk that seemed to take forever.

"But it wasn't my fault!" she frowned, a whine edging the tone of her voice. _How could he do this to me... to us? _she asked herself, tears filling her eyes. She didn't hate her husband by any means, she couldn't. He _was_ still her husband. _So what if he lost his mind, he was still my Loki. The man I fell in love with... The father of my children._ She hadn't even thought of what would happen to her children yet.

Sigyn had known how this day would end as soon as she had been summoned to the throne room. People had to have someone to blame, and today, it seemed, it was her. That morning, a page had come to her house and informed her that she was to meet with the Allfather that afternoon. Since then, she had spent the morning preparing herself for the inevitable. With a heavy heart, she had told her children that she, and their father, loved them both very much, before leaving make her way to the palace.

And now, here she was. Waiting. She'd been summoned and arrived on time, yet still she was _waiting_. _Come on! _she thought. She had reached the enormous gold doors that stood between her and her fate. And right now, she _hated_ those doors.

"It'll be fine," she sighed, trying and failing to reassure herself.

Sigyn straightened her dress and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Princess Sigyn?" a voice called from behind her.

She turned to see the page that had visited her this morning, running to catch up with her.

"Yes?" she replied, a frown appearing on her face.

_Does he not remember why I'm here!_ she thought, exasperated.

"You were supposed to wait for me at the entrance, my lady. Did the guards not tell you?" the page asked, gasping for breath.

Who did this boy think he was, telling her where to be?

"_No_, they did not. Do you really think it matters? I'm here now." Sigyn looked at him, her silver eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Very well, my lady. If you would follow me please."

The page pushed open the golden doors and Sigyn's stomach sank.

Sigyn made her way towards the stairs in front of Odin. She knelt in front of him, and bowed her head. Odin gestured with his hand and she rose.

The Allfather was sat on his golden throne, his armour glinting in the bright light of the hall. His spear, Gungnir, lying his across his lap. His wife, Frigga was standing to his right, her hand resting on his shoulder. Their son, Thor was stood behind his father's throne, his face expressionless and his eyes looking everywhere but the doors where Sigyn stood. This was a scene that she had seen so many times before, yet there was one thing missing.

"I miss you_..._" she whispered to herself, her thoughts straying back to her husband. She was pulled out of her reverie as Odin called her name.

"You are aware of why you are here, I assume?" he asked, his voice carrying across the almost empty room.

"Yes, Allfather." she replied, bowing her head hoping to avoid his gaze. She fumbled with the sleeve of her dress, pulling the pale gold embroidery that adorned it.

"Then you understand that this is the will of the people of Asgard as a whole, not just this family." Odin explained, rising from his throne.

"Now, I am not without mercy, child." he said, his voice softening, "Your fate will not be as harsh as it would normally be in such circumstances, for the crime was not your doing. Now, are you able to answer a question?"

Sigyn nodded, unable to muster even the simplest sentence. _You knew this day would come _she thought, trying in vain to reassure herself, _Just do what they ask and it'll be over._

It was Thor that spoke this time, stepping forward behind his father, his arms still crossed.

"Did, did you know that Loki had lost his mind?" he asked, his voice breaking has he spoke about his brother.

Sigyn faltered. Of course she had noticed; how couldn't she? He _was _her husband after all. She had spent every waking moment with him, since the day they began courting. She knew him inside and out. And yet, it had taken her a long time to notice it. _Too long maybe..._ she trailed off as Thor repeated his question.

"I did..." she stopped again. _Would my answer really make any difference, they've probably made their decision already_ "...not. I didn't know."

"Are you sure?" Thor asked her, moving closer the stairs in front of the throne.

"Y-yes. I am sure." she stuttered, averting her eyes from his. _They don't believe me _she thought, tears clouding her vision.

"He was my husband, I would have noticed if he had changed. In any way." she replied eventually, looking straight back at Thor. Her eyes were no longer filled with sadness, but determination. She was no longer afraid of what would happen to her, she had come to terms with that. It was fate, and no one argued with fate.

"It won't help if you lie to us, Sigyn." Odin said, looking her directly in the eye.

She nodded. She knew it was useless to lie, but Loki was, _is_, her husband and she would never betray. Not even if it would cause her harm.

"But it no longer matters if you believe me or not though does it, your Majesty?" Sigyn asked, tilting her head to one side. Their pointless questions were beginning to annoy her. _If they have already decided, why are they insisting on dragging it out?_

Odin walked towards her, Gungnir clinking against the marble floor.

"You would do well to mind your tongue!" shouted Thor, "You are in the presence of Odin Allfather!"

"What does it matter!" Sigyn shouted back, her annoyance and exasperation mixing, giving her voice a harsh tone. The three of them looked back at her with identical expressions of shock. "None of you care what I say! Not you...not my family...not even my own friends! You have all chosen to blame me for something I had no hand in and there is nothing I can do or say that will change your minds. Please, just give me my punishment and then leave me be."

"Very well." Odin replied, his calm tone a surprise against Sigyn's sudden outburst.

_At least I fought my side. You had best be proud of me, my love _she thought, looking up at the golden ceiling.

"Sigyn Iwaldidottir, wife to Loki Laufeyson and Princess of Asgard," Odin boomed, raising Gungnir from the floor, "As you well know, the people of Asgard have placed the blame on you for the crimes of your husba-"

"Enough of the formalities, Father, hurry up and get rid of her!" Thor shouted, unable to contain his anger and only calming down when his mother placed her hand on his arm.

"Calm yourself, my son," Odin ordered, "As I was saying, Sigyn; you are hereby banished from the realm of Asgard. You shall not be stripped of your Asgardian rights, your immortality or any powers you may possess. However, you shall not return here, unless it is expressly granted by me, Odin Allfather, or any future ruler of this realm."

Sigyn simply nodded. _It could be worse; I suppose _she thought to herself.

"You will return to your home and collect your belongings. You may travel to any of the other realms. You will then go to Heimdall on the Bifröst and he will allow you to travel to the realm of your choice." Odin finished. At that moment, the page returned to the throne room and Sigyn walked back towards the hallway.

* * *

Sigyn hurried about her room, collecting as much as she could before she was summoned to the Bifröst. _But where should we go?_ she wondered _Maybe Jotunheim...King Laufey is technically family after all. No, no. The safest place would be Midgard, no one knows of me there, and we'll blend in. I have to think of my children._

She ran from room to room, throwing clothes into a large black bag on her bed. Just as she was folding her daughter's nightdress, Thor walked into the room.

"What do you want, Thor?" she called, not turning to look at him.

He didn't answer, instead he asked her;

"Why are you packing your children's clothes, Sigyn?"

"Why shouldn't I be? They're coming with me, aren't they?" she answered, stopping mid-fold.

"No." Thor replied, pulling the clothes from her hands.

"No? Then where are they going, hm?" she asked, not allowing herself to believe that they would leave her children without both of their parents.

"They shall stay here. My mother has opted to become their guardian; they will be taken care of."

"You have got to be joking! Tell me you're not being serious!" she shouted, so loudly her son, Nari looked around the bedroom door.

"Mother, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes, son. Please, go and look after Asfrid. I won't be long." she replied, attempting to smile at her son to reassure him. He left the room as she asked.

Thor looked at her, sorrow filling his eyes for the first time.

"I'm sorry, Sigyn. But Father never said that they were to go with you. The punishment is yours, not theirs."

"Leaving them parentless is a punishment!" she sighed, "But I suppose there is nothing I can do. Very well, but please, take care of them"

"I promise," Thor replied, "Father said you need to be at the Bifröst in 10 minutes."

"Okay." Sigyn said, returning to her packing. Thor turned to leave;

"Goodbye...sister" he said, not looking back.

"Goodbye." she replied, but he had already left.

* * *

Sigyn arrived at the Bifröst, her bag in hand. She had said her goodbyes to her children and her parents, who had seemed to barely care about what was happening to their child. Frigga had met her at the Bifröst to take the children. It had been difficult. _Poor little Asfrid, she doesn't even understand._

This was it. She was never coming back. Her childhood home, the old oak tree where Loki had proposed...she would never see them again.

"My lady," Heimdall greeted her, bowing his head, "Where is that you have chosen to go?"

"Midgard." she replied bluntly, not looking at him or Odin.

"As you wish." At that, Heimdall pushed his sword into the centre of the Bifröst and Sigyn was transported to her new home.

_Goodbye _she thought, thinking of the children, the home, and the life that was being taken from her.


	2. Arrival of a Princess

**And here comes the main plot :) Hope you guys enjoy it and feel free to review and critique! x x**

******Disclaimer: I own nothing! Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers_movie and Marvel...etc :D**

* * *

Sigyn was not remotely impressed at being manhandled on to the plane. She discovered later that the plane carried not only her, but Director Nicholas Fury too. Fury seemed to be in charge- but in charge of what, she wasn't sure. He had also been the only one present who had seen fit to give her his name. There were others with him, who had not tried to introduce themselves, but she had barely bothered to take notice of the fools.

"But who is she and why do we even need her? You know the Asgardians only cause trouble when they come here," whispered Agent Romanoff, leaning towards Fury as she and Steve Rogers – the recently unfrozen 'superhero' otherwise known as Captain America – huddled together, a good distance away from their new passenger.

"I understand your concern, Natasha, but who she is isn't important right now. What's important is that she may be able to help us find Loki," he paused, glancing over at their prisoner as a mixture of unease and pity for the woman, who was, at that moment, whispering to herself and picking at the hem of her black dress. "Or bring him to us."

Sigyn sat on a metal bench near the front of the plane, hands bound tightly in front of her. _Valhalla! What did I do to deserve this?_ she thought, waving her handcuffed hands up in front of her. She'd wanted nothing more than to just get away and live a simple life down on Midgard. Things had changed since Loki had disappeared.

"Not dead..." she muttered to herself, the words catching in her throat, "No... he can't be."

She rested her head in her hands, not caring to glance up at her captors, and her ebony curls fell to hide her face. So much had changed since she'd left Asgard. Her own family hated her, her own people hated her. _Even my children have been taken from me... I don't understand... It wasn't me who did anything wrong... _she trailed off.

"I am a princess! What right do these _mortals _have to drag me onto this plane, in the middle of the night; without even thought to an explanation?" she complained, so loudly that Fury and the others turned to stare at her in confusion.

"Is there a problem?" asked Fury.

"No... _of_ _course_ not! Who could object to being handcuffed and dragged onto a plane without any explanation?" Sigyn exclaimed, not attempting to hide the sarcasm colouring her voice.

"We had our reasons, Sigyn. And explaining them to y-" Romanoff attempted to explain.

"That's _Princess_ Sigyn to you... _human_" she interrupted, her annoyance growing at their unwillingness to justify their actions.

The two women glared at each other for a long while, until Romanoff recoiled slightly at the anger in Sigyn's silvery eyes. It was an unnatural sight. A frightening one. Fury stepped between them, hoping to quell Sigyn's temper before things got out of hand.

"I think Natasha's made a friend..." Rogers muttered, smirking to himself.

"There is no need to be impolite, _Princess_. I understand that you may be afrai-" Fury began to reply until his name was called by the pilot and he turned away.

"_Afraid_..." Sigyn whispered to herself, a wry smile forming on her lips. "They will soon see that they are the ones who should be afraid..."

"Director, we're here..." shouted the pilot.

Sigyn craned her neck to see where 'here' might be, only to see the one person in nine realms that she loathed more than these frustrating mortals. _Thor._

* * *

_What is this place?_ she wondered. Sigyn had never seen the like of it before. The plane carrying her and the others had landed on a large ship which had a flat top. On it, there were a number of planes – not unlike the one she was currently travelling in – and other items that seemed to her to be military equipment.

"Fury!" shouted Thor, striding across to them, his arms outstretched and a small, almost irritated, smile on his face. "You could have at least told us all about your little 'trip' before you disappeared... Oh; and I see we have a visitor! Who is i-"

"Hello, _brother_," Sigyn called, making her way down towards the exit of the plane, where Fury waited for her.

"Brother?" questioned Rogers and Romanoff in unison, shifting their gaze quickly from Sigyn to Thor.

"In the name of Odin, what is _she _doing here!" Thor yelled, pointing at Sigyn, his naturally loud voice travelling across the entire ship.

Sigyn's mouth formed a thin smile as she relished Thor's genuine concern at her arrival. In the past, she and Thor had been good friends- even while she had been courting Loki. Only after the 'little incident' in New Mexico and Loki's attempts to bring Jotuns into Asgard, had their relationship begun to turn sour.

"Aren't you pleased to see me, dear brother?" Sigyn asked, slowly walking down the ramp to the ship until she was directly in front of Thor.

Her smile had turned into a smirk by the time she said, "I can honestly say I'm rather enjoying this little meeting already."

Thor looked down at her in disgust, twisting Mjolnir in his hands. He had hoped to never, _ever_, see this woman again. Yet, here she was. _Who knew someone so small could be so annoying, _he thought to himself, cursing Fury for bringing her here.

"_Pleased_... is not the word, _little _sister" Thor replied, moving around her to confront Fury.

Sigyn turned and followed Thor's movements, looking from him to Fury. Her gaze then moved to Rogers and Romanoff, who still hadn't moved from the back of the plane, their shocked expressions causing Sigyn to laugh to herself.

"Do you have any idea what you've done in bringing her here?" yelled Thor, waving his hammer in Sigyn's direction. "You _are_ aware of who she is, aren't you?"

"Of course I am aware; she wouldn't be here otherwise," Fury answered, calmly. "I believe she can help us, and I don't think _who_ she is the topic for conversation right now, do you?"

He gestured towards his companions, who were still looking completely dumbstruck at the scene unfolding before them. Thor followed his gaze to Romanoff and Rogers, whose confusion appeared to be increasing by the second.

"You haven't told them? Are you out of your mind? Do you have _any_ idea what she is capable of?" Thor ranted, the level of his voice rising until the whole ship could hear him.

All the while, Sigyn's amusement at her brother-in-law's anger was growing steadily. _I never thought that I would enjoy being hated so much,_ she thought, _or maybe it's more than that..._

Her thoughts trailed off as Romanoff interrupted Thor and Fury, "Will someone tell us what the hell is going on?" she yelled, moving from her spot next to Rogers to stand directly in front of Fury. "How do you expect us to trust her if you won't even tell us who she is?"

"Why haven't you told them, Director?" Sigyn asked, tilting her head to one side.

She'd learnt to love playing games and teasing from her husband, and she just couldn't resist chipping in to make the situation worse.

"Now everyone listen to me! We will have this discussion when _I_ say so! Now; everyone stop standing about and get the hell inside!" shouted Fury.

At this, one of the crew members ordered his colleagues to secure the equipment and get inside. Fury grabbed Sigyn by the arm and ushered her and the rest of them inside.

* * *

"Fury, you must listen to me!" Thor shouted, running to catch up with Fury and the others. "Do you know anything about her? You can't just lock her up like any other prisoner... She's _different_."

He glanced over at Sigyn, who was now standing in between two S.H.I.E.L.D agents, enjoying the drama that continued to unfold before her- or, rather, _around_ her.

"How could she possibly be different?"

Thor said nothing for a moment.

"Is there something that you need to tell us, Thor?" Fury replied, raising an eyebrow.

Thor sighed, wishing that for once, Fury and his _friends_ would do their research before they ran off and started arresting people.

"You are aware that a number of Asgardians have the ability to use magic, yes?" he began to explain, as Sigyn turned towards him.

_And there's that annoying little smile again, _he thought.

"Well, dear _little _Sigyn here is one of those few. Though I hate to say it, she is more special than the others."

"Why thank you, brother" Sigyn interrupted, giggling to herself.

"That wasn't meant as a compliment," Thor complained, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"Get on with it, will you! We don't have time to stand here and watch you two bicker, no matter how interesting it may be," said Romanoff, with Fury and Rogers nodding in agreement.

"My apologies," Thor replied, turning away from Sigyn. "Now, as I was saying, she is different, simply because she has the ability to bend matter itself."

"Bend matter? What the hell do you mea-" began Fury until he was interrupted by his prisoner.

"Would you like me to show you? I promise I won't hurt anyone." she asked, a sweet smile breaking on to her face to match the sickly sweet tone she used.

Somehow, Fury didn't quite see the truth in what she was saying.

"Fine," sighed Fury, worry colouring his voice.

Sigyn proceeded to walk back up to Fury and the others, leaving her guards standing confused behind her. When she reached them, she held up her still handcuffed wrists in front of them. Before their eyes, the metal handcuffs seemed to melt around her wrists and she held her now free right hand in front of them.

"See? _Interesting,_ isn't it?" she asked, staring at them, her eyes glinting with amusement.

"Yeah, _wonderful_. One question; if you knew you could do that, why didn't you just free yourself on the plane?" asked Rogers, speaking for the first time since they had got inside the ship.

"Well, if I'd done that, I wouldn't be here having this conversation with you all, now would I? And, believe me, I wouldn't miss this for the world- _your_ world, I mean" she replied, placing her now-unbound hands on the curve of her waist.

Rogers could do nothing but look at her, dumbfounded.

"I told you that you couldn't just lock her up like any other prisoner, didn't I?" Thor asked Fury, a smug look on his face.

"Yes, I heard you; but what do you expect me to do with her now, hm? I can't put her in a cell, she'll just melt the wall and walk on out!" Fury replied, a number of thoughts running through his head about how to keep Sigyn out of everyone's way until they needed her.

_She's a prisoner,_ he thought. _I can't just give her a nice little room like everyone else... _He trailed off as he caught back up with the conversation his colleagues were having.

"We could put her in the room closest to the bridge? It has security cameras in the corridors so we could see whether she was using her little magic trick to free herself," suggested Romanoff eventually.

Out of all the ideas they had come up with, this seemed to be the only one that everyone could agree on.

"Natasha's right," Fury interjected. "If everyone is in agreement then we'll set her up in that room," he turned his attention to Sigyn, "As long as you _promise_ you won't give us any cause not to trust you, agreed?"

"_Of_ _course_, Director" agreed Sigyn.

_Trust me? These humans really are as stupid as they look, aren't they?_ she wondered, smiling to herself as she was led down a corridor to her new home, for the foreseeable future.


	3. New Friends

**Well, this is probably one of the more 'talky' chapters, but she has to meet each Avenger somehow right? xD Anyhow! I hope you guys enjoy it and I  
would like to thank princesspomegranate again for making sure my chapters are fit for you guys! :D x x**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers_movie and Marvel...etc**  


* * *

It had been at least a week since Sigyn had arrived on the ship- or so she thought as anyone she had asked had refused to give her any information. So far, she had been left to herself. Alone. It was something she had gotten used to over the years.

"They must really think I'm stupid! It can't just be a coincidence that they brought me here just after _he _arrived," she complained, sighing as she pulled herself off of her bed and walked towards the small metal cupboard where her clothes were kept. "Fury knows exactly who I am... and I know exactly why I'm here..."

She had been living on Earth for a few years when Loki had appeared and stolen the Tesseract. _Did Fury really expect me to not have known about that? That little 'accident' at their headquarters wasn't exactly a secret, even if they didn't tell everyone the whole story..._

She looked around her room. It was small, but comfortable, with a single bed in the corner and a mirror and cupboard on the other side of the room. _It could be worse; at least I'm not in a cell. Maybe I should thank Thor for this... _She laughed as that thought crossed her mind. _No... He doesn't _deserve_ any form of kindness from me!_

She walked over to the cupboard and rifled through it until she found what she was looking for. When she had been arrested, S.H.I.E.L.D had taken both her Asgardian and Midgardian clothes. _That was kind I suppose. At least I have a choice in _something_ on this ship- even if it is just clothes, _she thought as she pulled the dress from the cupboard. Ever since she had been banished, she hadn't even allowed herself to look at her Asgardian clothes. What was the point in longing after something she couldn't have anymore? Down here on Midgard, she wasn't a princess; she was just Sigyn.

She straightened the dress out and sighed.

"Of all the dresses they could have taken, they chose this one! Really?" she complained, throwing the dress on to her bed.

It was a beautiful dress, _that_ she couldn't deny, but she didn't like it. It had been a wedding present from Odin and Frigga and she couldn't bring herself to wear it after all that had happened. She laughed, _I'm a prisoner, yet I'm worried about what I look like_. She continued to rifle through the cupboard until she found a pair of plain black leggings, a tight fitting black smock and a deep green corset. _This will do I suppose. _She took her emerald green cape from under her bed and proceeded to dress.

Just as she was pulling on her leather boots though, she heard voices outside her door that distracted her.

"Director! The computers found a hundred percent match for him in Germany," one of the voices shouted.

"Well, he's certainly not keeping a low profile," the second voice replied, and straightaway Sigyn realised that it was Fury.

She listened more intently from then on. _If Fury's involved, it must be important. And this 'he', it _can't_ be... no he's not _stupid_ enough to get caught like that._

"Find out exactly where he is," Fury said, making his way past her door.

She moved away from the small window in the door. _I wonder how much it would annoy him if he knew I was eavesdropping..._

"Of course, sir. I'll get back to the bridge now" the first voice replied, walking away back down the corridor.

Sigyn glanced around back through the tiny window in the door. Fury was gone. She quietly pushed the door open and walked down towards the bridge. She was able to walk about the ship occasionally, as long as she kept out of the way and most importantly, didn't annoy anyone.

* * *

When she reached the bridge, the scene before her was bedlam. _Wow, he really is that stupid... _she thought, shaking her head at her husband's idiocy, _Unless...he _wanted_ to get caught..._

Fury stood at the head of a long metal table, speaking to Thor, Romanoff, Rogers, and another man that she had never met before.

"Ah, Sigyn," Fury called, gesturing for her to come over to the table.

She walked over, her cloak billowing out behind her. The stranger watched her as she walked towards them. _Another name for me to forget, great... _she thought as she stood next to Fury, folding her arms.

"Yes?" she asked, looking up at him.

"We have found him... Loki," Fury added, concern spreading across his face.

Sigyn's eyes lit up at the sound of his name.

"And what do you want me to do?" she asked. "I know you're not going to let me come with you... are you?"

She tilted her head to the side.

"No. I am sending Rogers and Romanoff out to bring him to us," Fury replied, gesturing at them. "You _are_ still a prisoner here, Sigyn; make sure that you remember that. Thor will stay here and keep an eye on you."

"_Keep an eye?_ I'm not a child, you know!" Sigyn exclaimed, waving her arms in exasperation. "And I do _not_ want to spend any time with him!"

She pointed at Thor, who just rolled his eyes at her.

"You don't have a choice in this. You're staying here whether you like it or not," said Fury, chastising her as though she was a small child. "Now, you can either stay here or go back to your room."

Sigyn sighed and sat down by the table.

"I guess I'll stay here then."

Glancing over at Thor, she muttered, "And you had better not piss me off..."

"Dr Banner, could you please make sure these two behave?" Fury asked the new arrival, who was now sat across from Sigyn.

"So I'm a babysitter now... And you guys wanted me to stay away from stress," Banner sighed, but agreed to do as Fury asked.

* * *

_What is taking them so long...? _Sigyn thought to herself as she watched Banner rush around the lab that S.H.I.E.L.D had created in order for him to help them. She nervously curled her hair around her index finger as she thought of her husband. _He'd better be okay..._

She was pulled from her thoughts when Banner waved his hand in front of her face;

"Are you okay?" he asked her, a genuine look of concern on his face.

_Wow, someone on this ship who is actually nice to me._

"Sorry... I'm fine. Just worried that's all," Sigyn replied, smiling slightly.

"About Loki? Why?" Banner asked her.

_Hasn't Fury told any of them? _she wondered. _Why would he want to keep something like that from them?_

"What has Fury told you about me?" she asked him, completely ignoring his question; it wasn't up to her to tell any of them anything.

"W-well," he stuttered. "He only told us that he brought you here to 'help us', and I can only assume it has something to do with Loki."

He shrugged and was about to return to his work when Sigyn grabbed his arm. She thought she saw him blush, but maybe it was just the light.

"Can I ask you something?" Sigyn asked, letting go as he turned back around.

"Y-yes of course," he replied, sounding nervous again.

"Do I scare you?" Sigyn asked him, tilting her head to the side. She had wanted to ask this since she arrived there, but everyone seemed to either avoid her completely or only talk to her when she was needed.

"Well," he cleared his throat.

_Looks like I have my answer already._

"Is that a yes?"

"Umm, I can't speak for _everyone _on this ship, but you..." he paused and looked her straight in the eye. "You intimidate people. Maybe it's your power, I don't know. But I suppose you _do_ scare us a little"

_Maybe that's a good thing... _she thought to herself, smiling.

"Thank you, Dr Banner, for your honesty," she said, getting up from her stool. "I'll leave you to your work."

She walked towards the door without a backwards glance. And, this time, it was Banner who stopped Sigyn.

"You can stay if you like," he said, offering her a smile. "I wouldn't mind the company. And you can call me Bruce, Dr Banner's a bit formal, don't you think?"

_Maybe I should stay, _she thought; turning to face him. _It might be good to actually have a friend on this ship._

"I'll try not to distract you," she paused. "_Bruce_."

She laughed and returned to her stool. For the first time since she'd arrived, she felt somewhat happy. What a strange feeling.

* * *

Sigyn stayed in the lab with Banner, and she was quite content- until Thor arrived. _He always seems to turn up just when I don't want him, _she thought, sighing as her peace was ruined.

"I'd rather you didn't wander off!" Thor yelled, as he walked through the door, his cape billowing behind him.

"But it's fun to watch you worry about me, dear brother!" Sigyn laughed. "Besides, I think I've made a friend."

She smiled at Banner, who just laughed and turned back to his work.

"Oh, how wonderful for you," exclaimed Thor as he rolled his eyes. "But, unfortunately, I am meant to keep you out of trouble, so if you wouldn't mind, just stay put?"

Sigyn laughed at him again, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Don't worry yourself, I'm perfectly fine here," she tilted her head and smiled sweetly at him.

"Banner, are you alright with this?" Thor asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah, I guess," he answered, shrugging his shoulders.

Thor turned to leave, but was stopped by Fury charging down the corridor. He was followed immediately by Rogers and Romanoff, and another man that Sigyn didn't know the name of. _What in Valhalla is going on now? _she thought, turning herself around to glance out the glass window behind her.

Sigyn couldn't believe her eyes. _He's _here_; I never thought I'd see him again_. Ever since she'd heard that he was on Earth, she had hoped, prayed even, that she would be able to see him. Just once. _You will never know how much I've missed you,_ she thought to herself, fumbling with her hair again.

Both Banner and Thor were also staring out of the window. Thor's face was twisted into a mixture of dismay and relief, and it was clear that he was about as happy to see Loki as he had been when Sigyn had arrived. Banner, however, was leaning against his desk, only taking quick glances out of the window.

Seconds later, Loki walked past the first window to the lab, a smug smile emerging on his face. _Look up will you!_ Sigyn shouted at him in her head, willing him to look over at her. She walked over to the next window, pushing Thor away as he tried to stop her. At first, his gaze moved over to Banner, his ice blue eyes unblinking as he stared at him. Banner tried to hold his gaze, but it was only seconds before he turned away, an odd expression on his face. And then, just as she'd hoped, he looked at her, his expression unchanging.

"Oh, how I've missed those eyes," she whispered, smiling.


	4. Loki's Plan

**Hello all! Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who's read this up to now, I shall be eternally grateful to you all! Also, I know I haven't changed the rating, but in both halves of this chapter, there are bits that are a bit well...ya know! :P But come on, who can resist Loki eh? And I shall leave what happens between the newly reunited husband and wife to your imagination ****:P Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing (Though who doesn't wish they owned Loki, hmm?) Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers_movie and Marvel...etc :D**

* * *

_How am I supposed to relax when my _husband_ is only in the other damn room! _Sigyn thought, throwing herself down on to her bed. As soon as Loki had arrived, and before she even had time to predict it, Fury had had her marched off into her room.

_Had he been happy to see me? _she wondered, thinking back to her husband's arrival. He had been smiling when he looked at her, but she had seen that smile so many times before. _He's planning something... Something big..._ The smile was such a giveaway.

"How am I meant to 'help' them if they keep throwing me back in here!" she sighed, rolling over to face the wall.

_I just wish I could see him again... No one understands how much I've missed him... Those eyes; that smile. _She buried her face into her pillow in a futile attempt to clear her head.

* * *

"Oh, _what_ now?" she groaned, turning back towards the door.

She had been so close to falling to sleep when she heard the voices outside of her door. She pulled herself into a seated position and ran her hands through her hair.

"Will these people never just take a break?" she complained, grabbing the leather headband from her bedside table and pulled it over her head, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

_And why am I still worried about how I look? _she wondered to herself, combing her fingers through her hair again. She sighed, dismissing the thought, and looked towards her door.

"We've been married for I don't know _how_ many centuries yet I still worry about looking pretty around him," she laughed to herself and rolled out of her bed. Before she walked to the door though, she reached under her bed and pulled out her armour. It had been a present from Loki after they'd married, gold to match his own. _Not that I'll need it, but it won't hurt to be prepared... I wonder if he remembers._ She attached it to her shoulders, arms and legs and then walked towards the door.

Just as she reached it, she saw Thor and Fury arguing outside her door. She leaned against the wall, her arms folded.

_What in Valhalla are they arguing about now?_ she sighed and glanced around the window in the door.

"You cannot be serious!" Thor yelled, not even attempting to keep his voice at a reasonable volume.

"You know as well as I do that we'll get nothing out of him if we send someone with her," Fury replied, sounding as calm as ever.

_Talking about me again, I assume, _she thought to herself, smiling.

She wasn't one to enjoy being the centre of attention, but she had to admit, it _was_ fun.

"But... Never mind. Do as you please, Director, but if it all goes wrong; don't come crying to me!" Thor grumbled, striding off down the corridor.

Once he had gone, Fury turned to leave. Sigyn hid behind the door frame quickly, but to her dismay, he'd seen her.

"Sigyn?" Fury called, walking closer to her door.

_Great... _she thought as she opened her door, trying to ignore the fact that he'd forgotten her title yet _again_._  
_

"Yes, Director?" she replied, feigning ignorance at what had just happened.

Fury folded his arms, glaring disapprovingly at her.

"Eavesdropping, were you?" he accused, tapping his foot against the metal floor.

Sigyn licked her lower lip nervously, suddenly feeling like a child who had misbehaved. _He clearly knows that I'd heard... There's no use lying to these people. I never was as good a liar as Loki._

"Well, only a little," she answered, leaning against the door frame. "I mean, it's impossible to ignore an argument like that when it's right outside your door."

Fury sighed.

"What exactly did you hear then?" he asked her, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

"Just Thor complaining about something as usual," she replied, rolling her eyes. "He's always been such a whiner!"

She walked out of her room and stood next to Fury. He looked down at her, confused.

"What were you arguing about anyway?" she asked, innocently, her silver eyes wide and bright.

When she got no reply, she pushed on with her next question.

"I'm assuming '_he'_ meant Loki?" she stood with her hands on the curve of her waist, waiting for him to answer.

"I wish you wouldn't pretend you didn't know what was going on," Fury answered, laughing slightly, "It makes it very hard to trust you."

"I've got to have a little fun on this ship," Sigyn replied, a hint of sarcasm colouring her voice.

Fury was about to reply when they were interrupted by a S.H.I.E.L.D employee hurrying down the corridor towards them.

_Do these people ever just slow down and relax!_ Sigyn thought, sighing.

"Director!" the woman shouted, panting slightly. "Agent Romanoff is waiting for you on the bridge."

"What's going on?" Sigyn asked.

This time, she really _didn't_ know what was happening.

"Just follow me," Fury replied, walking down the corridor, gesturing for her to follow.

* * *

When they arrived, Romanoff and the others were sat around the metal table above the computers on the bridge. At the head of the table, there was another man she didn't know the name of.

"_Again?_ I wish they'd warn me when someone else that I have to bother learning the name of is going to show up,"she muttered under her breath, glancing quickly at the stranger.

_What is with that beard... I mean, you can't even call that a beard. But it puts Fandral's to shame! _She was pulled out of her thoughts, by Fury shaking her shoulder.

"I wish you'd pay attention, Sigyn," he complained at her, letting go of her arm.

"Oh hush," she replied, rolling her eyes.

_I'm surprised I haven't sustained an injury from the amount of times I've rolled my eyes at these people! And I may as well give up on my proper title being used down _here_._

"What was it you were rambling on about? I'm just _dying_ to know." she said, her voice thick with sarcasm.

This time she looked at Agent Romanoff, as it was clear that she had been the one talking.

"As I was saying," Romanoff scowled as Sigyn took a seat across from her. "I used every trick I could think of, but I couldn't get a thing out of him. Just some vague ramblings about how we'll never win..."

"So you're basically saying that you were useless?" Sigyn interrupted, smirking.

Romanoff opened her mouth to say something, but a look from Fury forced her to change her mind.

"So I'm guessing you two don't like each other then?" the stranger interjected, leaning back in his chair.

"Well _aren't_ you a smart one!" Sigyn replied, not intending to sound quite as condescending.

"Who in Hel are you, anyway?"

She turned to face him as she spoke, sighing at the smile on his face. _  
_

"I'm Tony Stark, you know, _Iron_ _Man_. Whichever you use is up to you." he replied, winking at her.

Sigyn shuddered, shooting a disgusted glare at him.

___Someone thinks a lot of himself, _she thought to herself, turning her back on Stark, _and __I have a feeling we are _not_ going to be friends.__  
_

"Then I guess we'll have to resort to Plan B," Fury turned to Sigyn, who looked up at him expectantly. "Sigyn, I'm assuming you know why you were brought here, so instead I'll start by explaining to everyone who you are,"

"_Finally_..." Sigyn interrupted. "I am tired of walking on eggshells in this place!"

Fury cleared his throat, glaring at Sigyn, who looked at him apologetically. Thor sighed, not looking forward to having to listen to things he already knew.

"Anyway, as you all know, Sigyn is also an Asgardian. However, there is a more important reason as to why I brought her here," he paused, gauging the reactions of his colleagues. "When you all arrived, I told you that I had a means of getting the information we need out of Loki. To put things simply, she is Loki's wife."

Sigyn couldn't contain her laughter at the differing looks of shock on their faces. _They really are dumber than I thought! Had they not seen me refer to Thor as brother, yet there is obviously no family resemblance between us? And if he _had_ had a sister, I'm sure they would have known about a long time before this!_

She breathed heavily, trying to regain her composure as Thor and Fury glared at her.

"And you didn't think to tell us this sooner?" Rogers yelled, unable to contain his frustration.

"I understand your frustration; however, I was simply waiting for the right time. If Romanoff had gotten the information we needed..."

"What would you have done with me if she hadn't, Director? Sent me home, used me as leverage against my own husband?" Sigyn shouted, slamming her hands down on the table, causing everyone to stare at her in silence.

She was only calm when Thor placed his hand on her arm, which shocked everyone even more. Sigyn had always had a temper and there had only ever been a handful of people who could actually calm her down, one being Thor.

"Sister, please," he pleaded, and she was silent.

She closed her eyes, clearing her head.

_One day I'll learn to control my temper, _she thought sadly.

"What do you want me to do, Director?" Sigyn asked, her voice steady again.

"Whatever it will take to get the information we need," Fury answered. "But I cannot allow you to enter his cell, Sigyn."

At that, Sigyn laughed again.

"I'm sorry, but I am going to have to say no to that," she smirked at Fury. "What I have planned isn't going to work with a wall between us."

She rose from her seat, leaving them staring at her with a mixture of confusion and disgust. As she passed Romanoff she leant over and whispered, though it was loud enough for the others to hear.

"Did you really think he'd talk to you? _I _am the only one he can't lie to."

* * *

Sigyn was led towards the cell, where Loki was being held, by two S.H.I.E.L.D guards and Fury. As they reached the door, Fury grabbed her by the arm.

"Just get all the information we need out of him, but don't take long," he reminded her, for the first time sounding extremely nervous.

Sigyn just shook her head and laughed quietly.

"I know what I have to do, Director, but as to how long it takes... Well that's not exactly up to me," she winked at him, and pushed the door open.

* * *

In the centre of the room there was a round cell that looked like it was made out of some sort of glass. At the other end of the room was a control panel.

_That looks pretty important,_ Sigyn thought to herself. _Maybe that's what's keeping Loki so _unusually _well behaved. _

She walked towards the cell, glad that Loki had his back to her.

_It'll make this all the more fun,_ she thought, giggling quietly.

Praying he couldn't hear her as she walked towards the wall furthest from him, she reached her hand out and pressed it against the glass.

_Don't you dare turn around, you'll ruin the surprise._

With just a thought, the glass melted around Sigyn's hand, and the rest of her body followed it. She walked silently towards her husband, casting a small spell to ensure her boots made no sound on the floor. Once she reached him, she paused before wrapping her arms around his thin waist.

"Hello darling," she whispered, feeling his body tense under her arms.

"Sigyn?" Loki asked softly, turning his head slightly to look down at her, a smile pulling at his lips.

"I should hope that no one else calls you darling," she replied, reaching up to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Missed me?"

"More than you will ever know, my love," he turned in her arms, wrapping his own around her waist and resting his chin on her head. He sighed as the scent of her hair surrounded him. How he had missed the feel of her body in his arms.

They were silent for a while. Sigyn traced her fingers across the leather of his tunic and moved to wrap her arms around his neck.

_How is it fair that he can look so _amazing_ in any clothes?_ She thought grumpily.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, kissing her temple.

Sigyn pulled away and looked up at him, "Do you mean in here right now, or on Earth?" she asked, tilting her head.

Loki smiled, "You have not changed one bit, my princess."

He moved to kiss her cheek, "But I meant on Earth."

_You'd be surprised by how much I've changed... _she thought to herself, smiling.

"I- I was banished, after what happened with and to you, they didn't want me there anymo-" she began, tears clouding her vision as her thoughts strayed to their home.

"What do you mean by _they_?" he interrupted, holding her slightly away from him.

She couldn't stop her tears from falling as she saw tears forming in the corners of his eyes as well.

"Everyone... My family, my friends, Odin and Frigga... They all wanted me gone after what... happened," she answered sadly, looking down at the floor, not wanting it to look as though she was blaming her situation on him.

"What about Nari? Where is he? Is he alri-" he started, but he stopped when Sigyn pressed a single finger to his lips.

"He's fine. We have a daughter as well, you know," Sigyn answered, trying to judge the expression on his face.

"A daughter?" he repeated, his eyes wide with shock.

"Yes. Her name is Asfrid, she's nine years old..."

This time it was Loki who silenced Sigyn.

"She's nine! That would mean that you were pregnant while I was still on Asgard!" he shouted, startling Sigyn.

She backed away from him, though it wasn't the first time he had ever shouted at her. They had argued like any normal couple when they were back on Asgard, generally over Loki's habit of tormenting others with his tricks.

"Would it have mattered if I had told you?" she yelled back, placing her hands on her hips.

_I wasn't expecting an argument so soon_ she thought, sadly.

"Would it have stopped you sending the Destroyer to kill Thor?"

Loki looked down at his feet, feeling suddenly guilty. It wasn't like him to feel guilty, but he had to admit that his wife's situation was his fault.

_There's a first time for everything _he thought.

"No." he admitted quietly, not daring to look at her.

It still shocked him to see her angry, considering it didn't happen that often.

_She was never a pushover_, he thought to himself, still not raising his eyes from the floor. _But_ _Earth has definitely changed her..._

"Exactly!" she replied, waving her hands in the air.

They were quiet for a while, Loki's eyes not leaving the floor. Sigyn folded her arms and sighed.

"You let me think you were dead..." she finally said, her soft voice cracking slightly.

"I had no choice..." he began, glancing up at her, his eyes full of guilt.

_He _should_ feel guilty! _Sigyn thought. _No matter how much I don't want to think it... It _is_ his fault._

She raised her eyebrow at him, but said nothing. She wasn't surprised by what he'd said, but she hadn't expected him to be so honest. He couldn't lie to her, she knew that, but throughout their marriage he tended to only tell her his deepest feelings if she coaxed them out of him.

She walked back towards her husband and pulled him towards her. He wrapped his arms back around her and held her tightly.

"I am so sorry, for everything," he muttered, his tears finally falling. "Thanks to me, you have no home, and our children are parentless. Don't hate me, love. Too many people hate me; not you too."

"Hush," she said, stroking the tears from his cheeks. "It doesn't matter now, our children are safe and we are together."

She kissed both of his cheeks and then pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Nothing matters as long as we are together," she whispered, laying her head against his chest. "And I could never hate you; _ever_."

* * *

After a while, Sigyn gazed up at her husband, taking in all his features. His eyes, his smile, she had missed it all. _And he's keeping his hair longer _she thought as her fingers lazily ran through the hair at the nape of his neck, a small smirk appearing as her mind continued on with that train of thought.

"Now it's my turn," she said, finally, looking back into his eyes.

"Why are you down on Earth? I'm assuming you have something interesting planned?"

Loki took his time before he answered, "You know me far too well."

He smiled, stroking the soft skin on the back of her neck, and making her shiver.

"But you're right, I do have something very, _very_ interesting planned," he whispered softly into her ear, hearing her gasp as she felt the heat of his breath on her skin.

"Tell me," she replied, kissing her way up his jaw and across to his lips.

"Please..." she pressed her lips against his, smiling against his mouth.

His eyes narrowed. _I wonder if they've put her up to this...not that it matters, I _have _missed her _he thought, glancing over at the security camera just outside the cell.

"I have an army, my love," he explained eventually, pulling her lips back to his. "A great army; one to rival any army, in any realm."

_If I'm going to reveal all, I may as well make a show of it._

"Oh really?" she said as she pushed him back towards the bench at the back of his cell, smiling as he sat down. "And what exactly do you plan on doing with this _great _army?"

Loki traced the curves of her waist, running his fingers up and down the bones of her corset, and pulled her closer to him. Sigyn ran her hands through his hair and heard him sigh happily.

_This is easier than I remember, _Sigyn thought to herself, giggling quietly as her husband snaked his arms around her waist. _He was always the one who liked to be in control, though I won't _complain._ We've been apart for so long._

She knelt down in front of him and ran her hands up and down his legs, smirking as she saw his eyes close. She rose up slightly, and pulled his lips to hers, holding the kiss until they both gasped for air.

"I am going to finally be a king," he answered, breathlessly. "And you, my love, shall be my queen."

He pulled her up into his lap, her knees on either side of his legs and twisted his hand into her curls. He pulled her towards him, but she shook her head and lowered her lips to his neck. Sigyn smiled at the idea of becoming a queen. She had always thought about what it'd be like to be queen, ever since they had married.

_Maybe it wouldn't be so bad,_ she thought, smiling into his neck as she flicked tip of her tongue against his skin. _And he _is_ my husband, it wouldn't hurt to help him out..._

"And what if _they_ try to stop you?" she questioned him further, as he pulled her cape from her shoulders.

Sigyn felt his fingers trace the golden armour on her shoulders. She looked up to see him looking at her, his eyebrow raised. She nodded at him, smiling as he realised that it was the armour he had given her.

_So he _does_ remember _she thought.

"Try and stop me?" he laughed as he trailed kisses from her neck down to her collarbone. "They can try all they like; but if I have _you_ at my side, I know I will not lose."

He felt her breath catch in her throat, as he began nipping at the skin on her neck. She pushed him down on to the bench, and trailed her fingers across his tunic, pushing it up slightly. When she reached the waistband of his trousers, her touch became softer as she ran the tip of her finger across his stomach.

Loki bit his lower lip, _Maybe I should conquer realms more often, I like this..._

Sigyn trailed kisses along his stomach, and tugged at the fastenings of his trousers. She continued to kiss his body as she pulled them lower down, giggling softly as she felt his fingers run through her hair.

"I will always be at your side, my King," she whispered against his stomach, hearing him groan as she continued her path down his body. "Always.


	5. Escape

**Well, this is the second half and _again_ I would like to thank my amazing friend Kit for making my story even better :D Enjoy! x x ****  
**

******Disclaimer: I own nothing (Shame!) Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers _movie and Marvel...etc :D**

* * *

"Well... at least we got something," Fury sighed, walking away from the control deck.

"Unfortunately if we expect to get anymore then it seems it'll be in a more _scarring_ manner," Romanoff interjected, as she and the others began to go about their own business.

She descended the steps from the deck and sat down at a computer, turning her back on the others.

"What do you think he means by an 'army', Fury?" Stark asked, leaning against the railings.

"I have no idea... but I'm sure we'll find out in the not too distant future," Fury sighed, sitting back down at the table across from the deck.

The others joined him and they quickly began to discuss what they should do with their new information.

* * *

_Now that's a hello I could get used to... _Loki thought to himself, smirking as he looked down at his wife, who had her head resting in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

"It feels like you're not telling me everything, darling," Sigyn said to her husband, as they lay down on the bench. She traced light patterns across his collarbone, smiling as his eyes closed and a contented smile appeared on his lips.

"And what makes you say that?" he asked her, kissing the top of her head.

He had missed her so much, yet this wasn't exactly the way he wanted them to be reunited. _Well, it wasn't _all _bad_, he thought smugly.

"I just know _you_, and your little plan just isn't... what's the word...? _Extravagant_ enough for you." she answered him, turning over to look up at him.

"Damn," he laughed. "You can see right through me, can't you?"

She slipped her hand into the collar of his coat and smiled up at him.

"Indeed I can; you've never been able to lie to me," she replied, pulling the coat away from his shoulders.

She lightly traced patterns across his neck before throwing his coat to the floor.

"Now will you tell me, or am I going to have to persuade you?" Sigyn whispered, her lips brushing his ear.

Loki shivered and raised an eyebrow at her, "I think you know the answer to that already, love. But if you want, we could make these _humans _feel extremely uncomfortable?"

Sigyn pressed delicate kisses across his jaw and towards his lips, giggling softly as she went._  
_

"I like that idea, very much," she whispered, kissing him again.

"So, what else have you got planned?"

"I'm assuming you've met the... doctor?" Loki asked her, pulling her on top of him, so she was lying flat across his body.

"Banner? Yes, I've spoken to him. He's the only one who showed me an ounce of kindness on this ship," she answered, sitting up and moving down so she was no longer sat on his stomach, hearing him groan as she shifted.

She giggled and leant down, whispering softly, "_Someone's _missed me..."

Loki grinned and sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist. She pushed herself closer to him, and smirked as she saw his eyes roll to the back of his head.

_That's a yes then, _she thought as he nibbled her shoulder.

"So you don't know _what_ he is?" Loki muttered into her neck, as his fingers trailed up and down her back.

"What are you talking about? He's just a scientist, nothing special, right?" she asked him, tugging at his tunic.

He raised his arms and allowed her to pull it over his head. She glanced down at his body. Loki watched as her fingers traced the shape of his chest and stomach, his breath catching as they trailed closer to the waistband of his trousers.

_As magnificent as ever_, Sigyn thought to herself.

"Oh, my little Sigyn, you have no idea," he said softly, as he untied the laces on the back of her corset and threw it on to the floor. "They thought that _I_ was the monster on this ship... but they are the ones who brought the _monster_."

"_Banner_... a _monster_? You're making no sense..." she trailed off, as her touch became softer.

Loki paused, and instead of answering her, he lowered her back down on to the bench and leaned over her. Sigyn stroked his arms, her nails tracing the contours of them. She reached up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer.

Loki pulled away and laughed darkly, "Yes, a monster."

He glanced over at the camera again, smiling as he thought of Banner's reaction to his comments. He pressed his body against hers, relishing the touch of her soft skin against his.

"How well do you know him, love?" he asked her.

"We're not best friends or anything, but he seems to trust me- _somewhat_. Did you know what he was when you arrived...?" she trailed off as he pulled her lips back to his.

"He trusts you? Well, that will make everything so much easier. And yes, I did." Loki muttered, a wry smile forming across his face.

"You're not making any sense!" Sigyn whined, tangling her hands back into his hair.

"His... _problem_ will be useful to me... to us," he explained, his eyes closing as she stroked the nape of his neck. "I want to use him."

"Use him for what?" she asked, pulling him closer to her, giggling as he slid his hands under her shirt, pushing it further up.

"You'll see, my love," he said softly, as he pulled her shirt over her head, smirking down at her. "Soon you'll see."

* * *

Fury rushed back over to the deck as one of his agents, a man by the name of Coulson, called him over.

"Are you sure you heard right?" Fury asked him, averting his gaze from the screen and quickly turning down the volume. "He definitely mentioned Banner?"

At the sound of his name, Banner glanced up from the table, a worried expression crossing his face.

"That is definitely what I heard, sir," Coulson answered, looking directly at Fury, "He said he wanted to _use _Dr Banner."

Banner rose from the table and walked over to join them.

"Can you _please_ turn it off?" Stark shouted, gesturing at the screen, "I doubt that anyone wants to hear _that_!"

When the volume was turned off, everyone sighed in unison. When he reached the deck, Banner looked from Coulson to Fury, frowning.

"Well, we all know he doesn't mean _human_ me, don't we?" he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and leaning against the railings.

"But you have the _other guy_ under control, right?" Fury asked him, worry breaking through his usually calm demeanour.

"Well, yeah, bu-" Banner began, looking down at the floor.

"But what?" Stark interjected, turning his chair so he could face them, "You haven't had any problems in years."

Banner started to speak, but was interrupted by Thor.

"Loki is very good at getting_ exactly_ what he wants... and I have faith in you, Banner," he explained. "We _all_ do. But I know Loki... and when he wants something, he tends to get it."

"Way to cheer him up, Thor!" Stark called out, attempting – and failing – to lighten the mood.

Banner sighed and made his way towards his lab.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in my lab. Alone. Hopefully still _me_," he said, not turning back as he left them.

* * *

Romanoff followed Banner to his lab, hoping to at least make him feel a little better about what Loki had said. When she arrived, she found him sat in front of one of his computers, his eyes blank.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, sitting down next to him.

He shook his head.

"Of course I'm not okay!" he shouted, startling her. "I knew it was a stupid idea to agree to come on this mission... You people don't understand. I'm meant to stay _away_ from stress, not walk head on into it!"

Romanoff rested a hand on his shoulder, but Banner shook her away.

"If you get yourself worked up, he'll get exactly what he wants. Do you want that to happen?" she asked him, trying to keep her voice calm, but she couldn't help but worry that he may actually crack.

Banner rolled his eyes and walked away from her, leaning against the desk on which Loki's sceptre lay. He had been using the sceptre to help S.H.I.E.L.D find the Tesseract, yet now he was suddenly drawn towards it and he didn't know why.

"Of course I don't. When the _other guy _is here, I can't think straight. I don't know who is my friend and who is my enemy," he looked her straight in the eye. "I'm _not_ me."

"And is what Sigyn said true?" Romanoff asked, "About you trusting her?"

Banner paused. He knew they weren't friends, not anything close to that, but she had just seemed different to anyone else on the ship.

"Well, she _was_ right about us not being friends, but she seemed okay..."

He was interrupted when the others walked in.

"Is everything okay?" Fury asked, "We heard shouting and we-"

"You came to check that I hadn't turned into a giant beast and killed Natasha is that it? So much for having faith in me..." Banner muttered, glaring at them.

Romanoff walked over to him and placed her hand over his, "Of course that's not what he meant. You know we trust you, but Loki has ways of getting into your head... Under your skin. He did it to me when I went to speak to him." she said, trying to keep him calm.

"But you're not the one who turns into a giant green rage mons-" Stark interrupted, but stopped when they heard shouts coming from the bridge.

"Oh! What the hell is going on now?" Fury shouted as he charged back towards the bridge.

* * *

"What was that?" Sigyn asked, sitting straight up and reaching for her clothes.

Loki simply smiled at her and proceeded to dress himself.

"This has something to do with you doesn't it?" she asked, arching her eyebrow.

Loki nodded as he pulled his tunic back on and put on his coat. He strode towards the entrance to his cell, before realising his only means of getting out was on the outside of his cell. He pounded his fist against the wall in frustration. He would have to wait, and he didn't have the patience right then.

"I can get you out of here," Sigyn stated, as she finished pulling on her boots.

"What? _How_?" Loki asked her, confused.

_He clearly doesn't know about my little power, does he?_ She thought as she wandered over to him, smirking. _I need to remember to thank Laufey for his little gift._

"Just take my hand and I'll show you," she said simply, holding out her hand to him.

He looked at her, his forehead furrowed, but took her hand anyway. She walked backwards towards the wall, smirking as she watched him become slowly more confused.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him, her back pressed against the wall.

"Yes, of course, but I don't understand..." he began but stopped as he watched his wife melt the glass behind her as though it was a block of ice under the sun. Within seconds, it was his turn.

"Come on, it won't hurt," she said, tugging on his arm.

He walked slowly forwards, closing his eyes as he passed through the wall of glass.

"What... what did you do?" he asked her, lacing his fingers between hers.

"Later," she replied, winking at him.

* * *

"It's Banner!" Romanoff shouted into her earpiece, hoping that someone would hear her.

"He's...he's changing..."

After the explosion, she and Banner had become trapped underneath the lab, in some sort of basement work area.

"Banner... Look at me!" she shouted, but he didn't respond.

Romanoff continued to try and twist her leg free of the pipe that had fallen on her, but to no avail.

"Bruce... Please, just stay calm; everything's going to be fine..."

She watched as his eyes darted back and forth. She stared at him, trying to get him to answer her.

"We're going to be okay, right?" she asked him, her voice cracking.

But it was too late. She twisted her body one last time, and her leg slipped from under the pipe. She backed away from Banner, as his body convulsed and he skin colour began changing. She was almost at the stairs when he sprung from the ground and turned towards her. _This cannot be happening, _she thought, darting up the steps, away from the animalistic roar that echoed through the room.

* * *

"Romanoff...? _Natasha_...? Can you hear me?" Fury shouted, but she didn't reply.

Thor and the others had all been separated after the explosion, and he wasn't about to let any one of them go. _There's enough blood on my hands as it is._ He turned around and called down to the agents below him.

"We need to distract Banner so we can get her out of their..._alive_," he shouted, to anyone who could hear him.

One of the female agents replied, a woman called Maria Hill.

"I could send one of the birds down there to distract him?" she suggested, walking up the stairs to stand by him.

"Yes... Anything to stop him doing somethi-" he was cut off as an arrow flew past his head, skimming his cheek.

_Hawkeye... _he thought, as he reached for the gun on his belt.

"Barton!" he called; keeping his gun against his leg. "You don't have to do this you know..."

He was cut off again, but this time by Maria.

"Grenade!" she shouted, as she dived back towards Fury.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?" Coulson called, stepping down the walkway towards Loki and Sigyn.

"Coulson, right?" Sigyn asked him, walking in front of Loki and towards Coulson, completely ignoring the large gun he had pointed at them.

"Yes," he shook his head, remembering why he was in the room in the first place. "But that's not the point; do you think you can just walk out of here?"

Sigyn laughed at him and the look of surprise on her husband's face. _Was I really that timid when we were back on Asgard?_ _Do people just assume I'll hide behind my husband? _She wondered to herself, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Yes, actually. Are you here to stop us?"

It was Loki who spoke this time, stepping forward to stand next to Sigyn. Before Coulson could answer, Thor charged into the room and pushed Loki against the wall of the cell, his hands around his throat.

"Are you going to kill me, brother?" Loki asked him, still sounding smug even though he was being strangled.

"Don't tempt me..." Thor snarled, tightening his grip on his brother.

"Thor! Let him go!" Sigyn yelled; running back towards them.

She grabbed his arm and he tried to shake her away, but her grip held true.

"I said... let him _go_.." she snarled.

Thor winced as he felt the bones of his wrist break. He cursed and let Loki fall from the wall.

"I told them not to trust you! They just wouldn't listen!" Thor shouted, turning towards Sigyn with Mjolnir raised, "I'm glad I told Father to get rid of you... You're just as deranged as your husband!"

"That's it!" Loki roared, pushing Sigyn out of the way.

"Ever the protective husband, I see," Thor replied, laughing at how easily riled Loki was when it came to Sigyn.

Loki glanced at Sigyn, and then moved his gaze to the control took her only seconds to work out what his plan was. She ran to the deck and waited.

Thor opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off as his brother charged towards him.

"Door, Sigyn!" Loki shouted, as they reached the cell.

Sigyn flicked the switch below the largest red button, and the door of the cell slid open.

_Lucky guess _she thought.

Thor and Loki crashed to floor, and within seconds Loki was off his brother and backing towards the exit. As soon as he was clear, Sigyn flicked the switch back down, shutting the door in Thor's face.

With his undamaged hand, Thor pounded Mjolnir against the wall of the cell, causing it to crack.

"Bad move, brother," Loki laughed, moving towards the control deck.

He wrapped his arm around Sigyn, pulling her close to him. He took her hand in his, and held them both above the red button in the centre of the control deck.

Coulson seemed to regain his senses as he shouted, "I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

He pointed his gun but the couple simply laughed at his threat, and Loki pushed their hands against the button. The metal floor next to the cell opened, and Thor was sent hurtling towards the ground below them.

"I can't let you just escape," Coulson said, hovering his finger over the gun's trigger. Loki moved towards him, smirking.

"Love, we don't have time for you to taunt him... let's just go!" Sigyn shouted to him, as she backed towards the entrance, but Loki ignored her.

"Fine, get yourself hurt..."

She rolled her eyes and ran out of the room.

"I have no idea what this does," Coulson shrugged, looking down at the gun. "But I guess we'll find out."

He squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened. Loki laughed at him, and slammed him against the railings. Coulson fell to the ground, clutching at his chest, his eyes glazing over.

"Goodbye, Coulson" Loki called, as he turned towards the door.

But just before he reached it, the gun went off, sending him flying into the wall.

"I should listen to my wife more often..." Loki groaned.


	6. Realization and Explanation

**This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, I know, but Sigyn needed explanations! Lol xD Anyhow! Enjoy x x**

**(AND I've made a couple of adjustments, turns out Sigyn had one more question to ask :P)**

******Disclaimer: I own nothing sadly! Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers _movie and Marvel...etc :D**

* * *

"I'm afraid there was nothing the medics could do," said Agent Hill, tears clouding her vision as she sat down at the table overlooking the bridge, "Coulson's...gone."

Fury was stood at the end of the table, which was occupied now by only Rogers and Stark.

"He gave me this." Hill continued, pulling Coulson's badge out her pocket and handing it to Fury.

Fury glanced down at the badge and sighed. The silence was interrupted by Romanoff entering the room. Everyone looked up at her, the same question on the tips of their tongues.

"How is he?" Rogers asked her as she sat down by him. She glanced up at him, her eyes hooded from the sleep she had lost since the incident with Barton.

"He's better," she began, slumping in her chair, "It'll take time for him to get total control of his mind back...what Loki did, it's not exactly easy to erase."

Before Loki had stolen the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D, he had used his sceptre to gain control over the minds of some of S.H.I.E.L.D's agents – including Barton – and an astrophysicist called Erik Selvig in order to follow through on his plans for Earth.

"I think I already know the answer," Fury began, smiling slightly, "But how exactly did you help him?"

"Well, to put it simply," Romanoff laughed, folding her arms across her stomach, "I beat the living hell out him and it seems to have worked."

She stood up and walked towards the door;

"I think I'd better be getting back to him," she said, turning to face them, "He's still not completely himself."

* * *

"Where exactly are we going?" Sigyn asked, as she knelt down next to Loki.

_He always manages to get himself into trouble when he's on his own... _she thought, as she took note of the long cut on his cheek.

_T__hough at least this means I'm winning _she thought, laughing slightly.

For as long as she could remember, Sigyn and Loki had kept a count of how many times each of them got into to some sort of trouble - which in Loki's case, was a quite a lot. She wasn't sure exactly how much she was winning by, but Sigyn was damn sure she was winning.

It hadn't been long since they had boarded one of the jets and escaped from the S.H.I.E.L.D ship, yet she still had no idea where they were going. She looked up at her husband and shook her head.

_One day, he'll learn to actually listen to me_, she thought to herself, smiling.

"Well, you told me that my plan wasn't _extravagant_ enough," Loki began, rolling his eyes as Sigyn fussed over the cut on his cheek, "So I have a little something special planned for Earth's _heroes_."

"Oh, and what exactly do you have planned?" she asked him, running her forefinger over his wound, watching as it disappeared from the healing spell.

She sat down next to him and waited for his answer. She glanced around at the plane, and noticed how the men on board had a dazed look about them.

_Well, I'm not surprised...I doubt there were people lining up to voluntarily help him take over the world_, she wondered as she returned her gaze to her husband.

"You'll see, love." he replied, smirking.

Sigyn pouted up at her husband, causing Loki's smirk to turn into laughter. Before she could complain, the pilot called out to them and they arrived at their destination.

_He's going to have a lot of questions to answer later_, she thought grumpily.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" Stark asked, glancing at Fury and Rogers.

It had only been a few hours since Sigyn had helped Loki escape and split them up without leaving his cell.

"I mean, they escaped!" Rogers interjected, waving his hands up in the air, "And we don't even know where they plan to go!"

"Will you both calm down?" Fury sighed, slumping in his chair. At his words, the pair of them went quiet, and a heavy silence filling his office.

After what seemed like hours, Fury spoke;

"And to think I believed... I _trusted_ her." he said, shaking his head.

"We _all_ trusted her, Fury," Stark interrupted, "Even after we found out who she was, we still believed she was on our side."

The office went silent again, with only the sound being the faint beeping of computers outside on the bridge. After a while, Rogers broke the silence.

"Maybe we do have an idea where they're going?" he suggested, in the hope of changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" Fury replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, you heard what Sigyn said to him," Rogers continued, "His plan wasn't _extravagant _enough."

"I think you're clutching at straws there, Captain." Stark interrupted, turning in his chair.

"That may be," he continued, glancing at Stark, "But think about it, he clearly wants to get to each of us. He definitely got to Banner."

"They both did," Stark said, clearly referring to Sigyn. The others nodded in agreement.

"Hmm," Rogers replied, "So he wants to make it personal...and we know he likes an audience. You saw his act in Germany."

"Get to the point, Rogers," Fury interrupted him, sighing, "We don't have all day."

"I was thinking that, and it may be a push," he smiled, "If he went for Banner, then chances are his next target could be the most _arrogant_ man on this ship."

He glanced up at Stark, who wasn't remotely offended by the comment that was clearly directed at him.

"Me?" Stark asked, a hint of confusion colouring his voice, "What could he want wi-"

At that moment it hit them. Stark Tower.

* * *

_I married a genius_, she thought, giggling quietly to herself as she looked around at her surroundings, her hands resting in the curve of her waist. The jet had landed in the hangar bay of Stark Tower.

_Why am I _not_ surprised that the man has his own jets?_ She was pulled from her thoughts by Loki calling her.

"Are you just going to stand there and take in all the scenery?" he called, laughing, "I have someone for you to meet!"

She ran from the plane and joined her husband.

"Is this the surprise you had planned?" she asked him, linking her arm with his as she gestured at the tower.

Loki laughed again, nodding and led her up to the roof of the tower. When they reached the roof, Loki left Sigyn and disappeared around a corner. Seconds later, he reappeared, followed by an older looking man.

"You must be Sigyn?" the man asked her. She noticed he had the same dazed look in his eyes. _I should really ask about that._

"I am, and you are?" she replied, smiling as she walked closer to him.

"Erik Selvig," he mumbled, glancing up at her, "I-I'm an astrophysicist."

Sigyn smiled at him again, and continued to walk past both him and her husband until she reached what turned out to be the Tesseract. She turned and raised her eyebrow at Loki.

"I think it's time you told me everything, dear husband." she said, tilting her head and smiling sweetly.

* * *

"How are you feeling now?" Romanoff asked, sitting on the stool by Barton's bed.

Barton shook his head and was about to answer when Rogers burst into the room.

"They're going to Stark Tower." he said, panting slightly and leant against the door frame.

Romanoff glanced over at Barton;

"Did you know anything about this?" she asked him.

"No, we didn't need to know," he replied quietly, shaking his head. He pulled himself to the end of the bed and looked over at Rogers.

"What makes you think that?" Barton asked.

"Just a hunch," Rogers replied, shrugging, "Anyway, I came to ask if either of you can fly one of those jets over to Sta-"

Before he could finish, Barton had left the bed and was already at the door, bow in hand.

"I can."

* * *

Sigyn was leaning against the railings on the balcony when she felt Loki's arms around her waist. She sighed and leant back into him.

"Start explaining." she said, turning in his arms.

Loki was silent for a while, and then smiled down at her.

"I'm assuming you have a _lot_ of questions, love?" he asked her, pulling her closer to him.

"Let's start with the Tesseract, shall we?" she asked him, smiling at the surprise on her husband's face. _I know more than you think, husband._

"Very well," he replied, his smile returning, "The Tesseract can be used as a portal to worlds out there, in space."

He turned her back around and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"It's how I plan to bring my..._our_ army to Earth." he whispered to her, making her shiver.

"Our army," Sigyn whispered back, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "I do like the sound of that."

She leaned into him and linked her fingers between his. She tilted her head and pressed a kiss to his throat.

"You have another question?" Loki asked her, his voice still no louder than a whisper.

Sigyn nodded and turned to look up at him.

"I noticed that the men on the plane, _and _Selvig, all had this weird look in their eyes, like they were in a trance or something," she began, tensing as she heard him laugh at her.

Her eyebrows turned to a frown as he continued to laugh.

"Before you ask, yes it _is_ something to do with me," he replied once he had regained control of himself.

He pulled away from her and picked up his sceptre, which had been leaning against the railings.

"You see this?" he asked, raising the sceptre, "When I touch its tip to a person's heart, they feel...a sense of peace."

"And it makes them follow you without question?" Sigyn asked him, running the pad of her finger across the sceptre's blade, ignoring the small cut the movement caused, and down the handle until she reached his wrists. She prised his fingers away and took the sceptre in her own hands.

"Indeed." he replied, watching her as she twisted the sceptre around in her hands.

She returned it to its original position and turned to lean against the railings again. Loki wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her close to him. Sigyn reached up and kissed his lips gently.

_I am never _ever_ letting you go again_, she thought to herself as he deepened their kiss.

"All this will be ours, love," he whispered eventually, kissing her jaw, "This, and so much _more."_


	7. There Is Only War

**Just to let you guys know, I'm considering rewriting some of the previous chapters. The actual story isn't changing, but after doing a few more chapters, I realised that my writing got a _bit_ better later on so ima improve some of them :P Damn my mind :P Anyway! The story's almost over *cries* but I already have ideas for a prequel (possibly a sequel if you guys want it?) and some one shots :P ENJOY! x x**

******Disclaimer: I own nothing! Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers _movie and Marvel...etc :D**

* * *

Sigyn leant against the wall, gazing over at her husband as he quizzed Selvig over the Tesseract. She watched as he circled Selvig and the device that had been placed in the centre of the roof. Sigyn couldn't help but laugh at Loki, as he put on his best 'evil God of Mischief' act. Her laughter received a questioning look from Loki, but Sigyn simply shook her head and gestured for him to return to torturing the poor astrophysicist._  
_

"How long before we can open the portal?" Loki asked him, as he returned to his pacing.

"She's almost ready," he replied, gesturing towards the cube, "I just have some adjustments to make to the device an-"

"Whatever it is, do it." Loki interrupted, walking back towards Sigyn.

Just as he reached her, Sigyn glanced over at Selvig, and felt a pang of sympathy as she saw the fear in his eyes. She flashed him a small smile, hoping it would comfort him.

"There's no need to be so short with him you know," she scolded, hitting him lightly on the arm, "He'll do as you ask anyway."

Loki looked down at her in surprise. _Even before we were married she could always make me feel bad about...well being _me, he thought.

"You're right, love." he replied eventually, smiling at her. _As always._

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her inside.

* * *

Throwing her cape over the back of one of the sofas, Sigyn threw herself on to it and sighed happily. She stretched her arms out, her armour rustling slightly at the movement. She allowed her gaze to drift around the room, taking in the decor of the place. When her gaze reached the bar, which stretched across the wall in front of her, she rolled her eyes.

_Why doesn't it surprise that Stark would live in a place like _thisshe thought, shaking her head slightly. She was pulled out of her reverie as her husband appeared above her.

"Making yourself at home, love?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Sigyn tilted her head over the arm of the chair and laughed, her curls just brushing his feet. He leant down, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Sigyn took his hand, and tugged at it lightly. Loki smiled and sat down on the sofa next to her, allowing her head to rest in his lap.

"I'll answer _your_ questions now." she said, as his fingers traced light patterns on her neck.

Loki was silent for a while, his brow furrowed in concentration. Sigyn could tell he was thinking hard about what to ask her first. She lifted herself so she was sat up in his lap, noticing the small smile on his face as she shifted.

After a while, he spoke.

"What exactly is this _power_ of yours?" he asked.

Sigyn rested her head on his shoulder, and ghosted small kisses across his throat. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Well, to put it simply, I can manipulate matter," she began, smiling up at the look of confusion on his face.

"Okay, but what about Thor's wrist," he replied, "You seemed pretty surprised that you broke it?"

Sigyn laughed as she remembered, her whole body shaking from her amusement. She heard Loki groan at her movement, which only made her laugh harder.

"I was surprised," she said eventually, gasping slightly, "I wasn't even sure it'd happen, and I have absolutely _no_ idea what this power can or can't do."

"What do you mean?" he asked, shifting underneath her.

"Well, when I _received_ this power," she continued as she wrapped her hand into his hair, twisting it between her fingers, "I was never told anything about it."

"Received? Well I guess I would have noticed if you'd had this power from the start." he said, his eyes closing as she continued to play with his hair.

Sigyn laughed again. _I wonder how he'll react to this_ she thought.

"It was a wedding present," she began, watching him closely.

She paused, gauging his reaction, and then continued.

"From King Laufey."

Loki's shot open in surprise and he turned around to face her. She had never had the opportunity to surprise her husband on so many occasions, in such a short space of time, and she was enjoying it more than she expected. _Now I understand why _he _likes surprising people so much._

"From...what...why?" he stuttered, unable to form complete sentences as he tried to come to terms with the fact that his wife had visited his father, without him knowing.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "But I have it and it could help us win."

* * *

"Where in the name of Odin am I?" Thor wondered aloud, his eyes searching for Mjolnir.

Thor reached out to push himself up from the ground and felt a surge of pain through his right wrist.

"You are going to pay for this, _little sister_!" he roared, rubbing his wrist and trying to rid himself of the pain.

_If anyone finds out that the little _bitch_ broke my wrist, I will never live it down_, he thought, mentally cursing Sigyn, _though it's a shame I was never good with healing magic._

At that moment, his hammer came flying towards him and he began to walk forward, hoping he would somehow find his way out of this place.

* * *

Sigyn walked up the stairs to the roof, sighing as she went. _Why do I get the feeling he wanted...no _needed_ me out of the way? _she thought grumpily.

She reached the roof and walked over to Selvig. She noticed him glance up at her, but he averted his gaze almost straight away. She touched him lightly on the arm and he turned back to look at her.

"You have no need to fear me, you know?" she said, trying to reassure him, "I'm the good cop."

Selvig smiled at her use of a mortal phrase and opened his mouth to reply to her, but was interrupted. Sigyn turned around, only to see Stark hovering above them.

_ Oh...just as my day was going nicely._

"Shut it down, Selvig!" Stark shouted, moving closer to them.

But it was Sigyn who answered him.

"I think you already know that's not going to happen" she called out to him, smirking as she stood by Selvig.

_Hopefully I've learnt something from my husband _she thought as she gauged Stark's reaction to her lie.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to do it myself," Stark answered, raising his arm to aim at the Tesseract.

Stark shot at the cube, but a shield of energy erupted around the machine. Sigyn pushed Selvig to the ground as the wave hit Stark, causing him to be blasted backwards. Once the device had settled, Sigyn rose from the ground, dusting herself off. She walked towards Stark, her smirk back in place.

"Not exactly what you were hoping for, hmm?" she called, standing directly in front of him.

Stark began to answer, until movement on the balcony below drew his gaze. Sigyn followed his gaze and saw Loki stood on the balcony, slowly applauding Stark. He turned from the roof, and descended to Loki.

"Are you okay?" Sigyn asked, turning back towards Selvig – who was still lying on the ground.

He nodded as Sigyn walked to him and pulled him from the ground.

"A shield?" Sigyn asked, moving her gaze from the cube to the scientist as he turned towards the cube.

"Yes," he began, as he returned to working on the machine, still keeping his eyes away from Sigyn, "The cube's pure energy, nothing can stop it."

* * *

"Nice touch." Stark called, gesturing around at his tower as he landed on the balcony.

Loki inclined his head and began walking back towards the tower.

"Are you here to appeal to my humanity?" Loki said, ignoring Stark's comment.

He followed Stark as he entered the tower, his usual smirk back in place.

"Actually, I'm here to threaten you." Stark replied simply, as he walked behind the bar in the lounge. He pulled a bottle from behind the bar along with two glasses.

He took note of the cape that was still draped across the back of his sofa, a cape which could only have belonged to Sigyn. _Well someone clearly made themselves at home..._

"Drink?" he asked calmly, holding up the bottle.

Loki simply shook his head and continued to walk towards him.

"Threaten me?" he asked, raising his eyebrow, "You'd better put that suit of yours back on then."

Stark laughed, grabbing cuffs from the bar's surface. On his way here, he had instructed Jarvis to prepare the newest model of his suit, and the cuffs meant that the suit would come to him rather than the other way around.

"Yes, threaten you," Stark repeated, "Are you sure you don't want that drink?"

Loki smiled and shook his head again.

"My army is coming, do you truly believe you can stop them?" Loki laughed, walking over to the window, "What could I possibly have to fear?"

"The Avengers," Stark replied, attaching the cuffs to his wrists, "It's a name we've given ourselves, you see."

Loki turned to face Stark, who was now standing next to him.

"Indeed, I've met them." Loki said, his smile widening.

"I know it took us a while to get going, but you managed to piss off _every_ single one of us." Stark continued.

"That was the intention," Loki said, tightening his grip on his sceptre.

He walked towards Stark, his smirk still in place.

"Tell me," he said, raising the sceptre to Stark's chest, "How will they have to time to fight us, if they're fighting you?"

He pressed the weapon to Stark's heart, as he had done to Selvig and Barton. To his surprise, it failed.

"Something wro-" Stark began, but was cut off as Loki's hand closed around his throat.

* * *

"Oh! What's happened now?" Sigyn sighed, not necessarily looking for an answer as she charged towards the stairs.

She had heard a crash from below them. _What are the chances he's gone and hurt himself again? _ she thought as she reached the balcony.

She was stopped in her tracks as she saw Loki fly backwards from the window and heard Stark call;

"And there's one other person you pissed off! His name was Phil."

She ran across the room, throwing an angry glare at Stark and looked down at her husband, who was now sprawled across the floor.

"I can't leave you alone for a second without you getting into trouble, hm?" she sighed, walking over to her husband.

_It's like Sif's hair all over again! _she thought to herself as she reached him. She stood over him, her hands on her hips and her eyebrow raised waiting for an explanation.

"And that's another one to me, husband" Sigyn said, smirking at him.

He glared up at her and pulled himself up off the floor. He was about to speak, but was interrupted by a loud a blast followed by a beam of blinding light coming from the roof.

"They're coming." Sigyn whispered, glancing up to see the portal open.

Loki wrapped his arm around his wife's waist and led her over to the balcony.

"This is it, love," he whispered to her, as she snaked her own arm around his waist, "This is war."

* * *

Sigyn rested her arms on the balcony, feeling the warmth of her husband's arms around her. Loki rested his chin on her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. They stayed there for a while, watching the destruction unfold below them, until they were interrupted by Thor. Sigyn turned towards her husband, watching as his clothes changed from green and black leather to his golden armour. She ran her hand of one of the horns on his helmet and kissed him.

"Go," she said, "You handle _him_, I have a little plan of my own."

Loki smiled and watched as she walked towards the edge of the balcony where she glanced over at Thor.

"How's the wrist?" she asked, smirking.

Thor simply glared at her, his anger deepening as he heard his Loki laugh. He clenched his fists turned his attentions back to Loki.

_I need a ride..._ she thought, as she reached the balcony's edge. Her eyes searched the city below her and before she could finish that thought, a swarm of Chitauri soldiers appeared.

She glanced behind her, taking a final look at her husband and catching a small part of their conversation.

"Loki!" Thor shouted, "Turn off the Tesseract, or I will have to destroy it myself!"

"You can't stop it," Loki called, as he walked towards his brother, his arms stretched out towards his invading army, "There is nothing but _war_!"

Sigyn turned her back on them both and jumped, her cape billowing out behind her. She landed on the empty back of one of the flying boards, which was manned by only two Chitauri warriors and noticed that the soldiers before her, or the others, didn't make a move to attack her.

"Take me to Stark," she said, hoping it would understand her, "The idiot in the bright red suit."

The soldiers turned away from the others, and sped away in the direction Stark had gone.

_Loki was right_, she thought, _they do know who I am._

* * *

"There!" she called out to the soldiers, pointing ahead of them.

The soldier made no move to acknowledge her but they turned the corner and were heading in the direction she wanted.

Within minutes, she was in front of Stark, stopping him in his tracks.

"You won't win this," Stark called to her, watching as the soldier turned the board so she could face him. _They answer to her too,_ he thought, _wonderful._

"No?" she replied, tilting her head slightly, her smile matching her sickly sweet tone.

Stark drifted towards her, until he was only a few inches away from her.

"No...you won't." he said, his gaze travelling to the soldier behind her.

He couldn't see any form of weapon, on the board or her. _Weapons or no weapons, I'd best be careful, _he thought, returning his gaze to Sigyn.

"_I_ think you are _very_ mistaken." she snarled, her eyes darkening as her anger grew.

Before Stark could reply, Sigyn raised her hand and he felt the metal of his suit tighten around his throat.

"How about now?" she asked him, laughing as he tried to break free from the pressure on his throat, "Can they win without you?"

She clenched her fist, and watched as the metal continued to press in to his neck and the power in his suit began to fail. _I could kill him_, she thought, her lips forming a thin smile, _but then it would be over _far_ too quickly and I want to have some fun._

Sigyn released her grip and watched as Stark began to fall from the sky, a wry smile forming on her lips.

_One down..._

* * *

Stark regained power just before he hit the ground. _Another suit ruined,_ he thought as he reached up to feel the damage around his neck, _but at least I can still breathe...sort of._

He was drawn from his thoughts as Romanoff's voice entered his helmet, crackling slightly from the damage on his suit.

"Stark..." she asked, "Where the hell are you?"

"I could ask you the same question," he replied, his voice strained from the tightness of his helmet, "Has Banner turned up yet?"

"The portal's open," she stated, ignoring his comment, "Do you think you could bring them to us? And no sign of Banner just yet..."

"Well, tell me if he does, okay?" Stark asked, preparing him for the impending battle.

_Let's get this party started..._he thought grimly, and soared back up to the Chitauri.


	8. Revenge Is Sweet

**Only a couple more chapters to go! Apologies for how long it took me to write this...but it's here! And yes, this one is kinda sad...bad things happen. Anyway! Enjoy x x (and please review, it'll make me happy xD)**

**********Disclaimer: I own nothing sadly! Some of the dialogue belongs to _The Avengers _movie and Marvel...etc :D**

* * *

"Look at this! Look around you!" Thor shouted, as he slammed his younger brother into the wall, "Do you think this will end with your rule?"

Loki looked at the destruction unfolding around them, his eyes widening as he realised what he had got himself into.

_And Sigyn, _he thought sadly, as his gaze followed a group of Chitauri warriors, _If anything happens to her..._

He couldn't bring himself to think of his wife, wherever she was. She could look after herself, he knew that, but it didn't stop him worrying. He was pulled out of his thoughts by an explosion that hit the Stark sign below them.

"It's too late. It's too late to stop it!" he replied eventually, his worry over Sigyn colouring his words slightly.

"No. We can stop it, together," Thor said, his expression softening as he loosened his grip on Loki.

_How, after all that's happened, can he still believe I am on his side? It's not only _mortals _that are stupid! _he thought, his lips curling into his usual smirk as he reached for the blade inside his coat.

"Sentiment!" he shouted, plunging the blade into Thor's stomach.

He watched, laughing as the thunder god staggered backwards.

"You are a fool brother!" Thor retaliated, charging towards him and lifting Loki above his head. "You will never be a king!"

Loki's reply was cut off as he was slammed to the ground, his sceptre falling from his grip. With a final glance up at his brother, he rolled off the balcony and landed on the back of a Chitauri board that was flying beneath them.

_We'll soon see who the _fool _is, brother..._ he thought, smugly.

* * *

"Loki definitely wasn't lying about his army," Sigyn whispered to herself as the board carried her over the city.

Below her, thousands of Chitauri warriors swarmed through the streets, leaving a wave of devastation behind them. Sigyn smiled as she watched the alien soldiers invading the offices below them. And her smile turned to laughter as a Chitauri worm appeared, its fin cutting through the side of building.

_Who would have thought I would enjoy destruction so much..._ she sighed, gesturing for the soldiers in front to turn them back towards the centre of the fight.

As they turned from the building, she was blinded by a crash of lightning.

_There's only one person who makes that kind of entrance..._she thought as she shielded her eyes.

But it didn't take her long to realise that the lightning had not only struck the Chitauri below them, but the soldiers in front of her too. Within seconds, the board began to hurtle towards the skyscraper and Sigyn had no means of stopping it.

* * *

Thor landed in front of Rogers, clutching the wound on his stomach and leaning against the bonnet of a wrecked car.

_Those two will be the death of me..._ he thought, as he pushed himself into a standing position. He walked towards Rogers, stepping over the body of an alien soldier.

"Glad you could join us." Rogers called, turning to face him.

He looked down at the wound on Thor's stomach, but his question was stopped by Thor quickly shaking his head at him.

"So, what's the deal up top?" Rogers asked, as Barton and Romanoff joined them.

"The cube's barrier is pure power... It's impenetrable." Thor replied, looking back up towards Stark Tower, "We have no choice but to fight his army."

"So... how do we do this?" Romanoff asked, turning to Rogers.

Rogers paused, his eyes scanning the scene around them. _Hmm... _he thought, _it seems that the _entire_ battle has been centred on us. That's it..._

"Loki's planning to keep the fight focused on us. We stick together," he began, looking at each of them in turn.

"We've got Stark up-"

He was interrupted by Banner, who pulled up on a rundown-looking motorcycle.

"Well isn't this just horrible." Banner called, as he climbed off his bike.

"I've seen worse..." Romanoff smiled as he walked towards her.

His eyes darted to hers, an apologetic look on his face. Romanoff continued to smile, and patted his shoulder gently.

"We could certainly do with a little worse." she said quietly, gesturing at the aliens regrouping around them.

* * *

Loki smiled as he watched Stark leading one of his worms towards the newly regrouped heroes. _The Avengers,_ he thought, laughing quietly to himself, _we'll see if they're truly Earth's mightiest heroes..._

His eyes were drawn back down to the ground and his smile widening as he noticed that Banner had finally joined them.

"About time, doctor," he muttered to himself, his gaze never shifting from the doctor.

Loki watched as Banner changed into his monstrous alter ego, and was unable to deny his surprise at just _how_ monstrous the beast really was. But his emotions remained unaffected as the worm was destroyed; he had plenty more where they came from.

"Send the rest."

* * *

"What's the plan, Captain?" Stark called over the noise of the incoming horde of aliens.

Rogers glanced at him, finally taking note of the state that his suit was in.

"Never mind that, what the hell happened to you?" he asked, gesturing towards his helmet.

"Sigyn happened," he said, waving the question away. "But seriously, what's the plan?"

"Alright!" he called out, turning towards them all, "Until we can close the portal, we're going to have to contain them."

* * *

Sigyn couldn't help but scream as the board hurtled towards the ground below. Her hands grabbed wildly for the controls in front of her, regardless of whether she knew how to control the board or not.

_Thank the Norns we were so high up to begin with! _she thought, a small ounce of relief washing through her body as she realised it would be a while before she actually hit ground, though she didn't dare to look down below her. She glanced at her hands, only to realise that she was actually shaking in fear.

Sigyn looked up, just in time to see the grey concrete of a building which was far too close to be considered comfortable.

"Where's Loki when I need hi-"

Before she could finish she felt herself being pulled away from the board, which exploded just below her feet. Sigyn turned round, only to see Loki stood in front of her, leaning far too casually on the side of his board.

Sigyn sighed and hugged him, much to Loki's surprise.

"How does it feel to be the one getting into trouble, hmm?" he asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

_That's one to me... though she's still winning with two, _he thought, wondering if she remembered the tally they kept for the trouble they got into.

"Oh shut up!" she laughed, as Loki pulled her to stand in front of him.

"But I'm still winning!" she continued, poking her tongue out at him as he laughed with her.

"Hold on tight, love," he whispered, as they sped away across the city.

* * *

"None of this is going to make a damn bit of difference if we don't close the portal!" Romanoff shouted, as Rogers appeared over the wall behind her.

"Well what do you suggest we do? Guns can't touch it..." he replied, frowning beneath his mask.

As he spoke, a stream of Chitauri warriors appeared above them. Romanoff glanced over at Rogers, her eyebrow raised.

"You got a plan, Agent?" Rogers smiled, as he saw Romanoff preparing for a run up, though he knew the answer already.

"Yeah... I could do with a boost though?" she laughed, gesturing towards the board heading towards them.

Rogers positioned his shield low enough for her to jump from, and watched as she disappeared in the direction of Stark Tower

* * *

Fury looked from one screen to the next, acknowledging each of the council members in turn. He had received a small briefing as to what the decision that the council had made was but he still couldn't believe what he was hearing, even when the council members themselves were explaining it to them.

"I understand that the council have come to a decision, but given that its damn stupid idea, I've chosen to ignore it." Fury sighed, doing his best to control his temper, knowing it wouldn't serve him well to lose it in front of the council.

"Director, you're the closest of our subs," one of the council members began, "You scramble tha-"

"You're talking about the island of Manhattan, councilman!" Fury interrupted, his voice echoing over the noise of the bridge, "Until I am completely certain that _my_ team can't hold it, I will _not_ order a nuclear strike against civilians!

* * *

Sigyn's eyes scanned around for another _hero_ that she could vent some of her anger on but she was yet to see anyone until Loki sharply turned their board, almost knocking her to her feet.

"What in Hel..." she began, trying to see what the cause of the sudden change of course was.

She turned to Loki, only to see his trademark smirk back in place. She raised her eyebrow at him and was answered with him pointing at the board that was now in front of them. Sigyn strained her eyes to see what exactly had gained her husband's interest.

In the distance, she saw the faint outline of a woman. _Red hair... _she thought, _it can't be?_

As they got closer, she realised exactly who it was. She hissed as it dawned on her.

But before she could begin to consider all of the pain she could inflict on her second least favourite mortal, she felt a rush of air as an arrow headed straight for them. Sigyn sighed in relief as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Loki catch the incoming arrow between his fingers. She felt Loki grab her as the arrow exploded and they fell on to the balcony of Stark Tower.

* * *

_This had better work, _Romanoff thought to herself as she landed on the roof of the tower. She pulled herself from the ground and brushed the dust from her suit, when she heard movement from behind her. Romanoff turned to see Selvig's head emerge from behind the Tesseract.

She made to move towards him, taking note of the fact that his eyes no longer seemed to hold the glazed look she had seen on Barton.

"Doctor Selvig," said Romanoff, holding out a hand to help him up.

Selvig reached out slowly towards her, allowing her to pull him from the ground. Noticing the cut on his head, Romanoff opened her mouth to make sure he was okay, but was cut off by the scientist waving his hand at her.

"Loki's sceptre... the shield..." Selvig began, his voice coming out in hoarse rasps as he tried to talk to Romanoff. "You can't... protect against... yourself."

Romanoff shook her head;

"Don't blame yourself, you didn't know what you were doing," she said, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

At her response, the physicist laughed which drew a surprised look from Romanoff.

"Actually, I _did_," Selvig said, his laughter slowly fading to a quiet chuckle. "I built a safety to cut the power source."

Romanoff raised her eyebrow at him, trying to put the pieces of what he had said together. It took her only seconds to realise exactly what he had told her.

"The sceptre?" she asked him, her eyes searching the roof but finding no evidence of the sceptre. Slowly, she followed the scientist's gaze over the edge of the roof.

"Exactly, and I'm looking right at it."

* * *

As Sigyn pushed herself from the ground, she glimpsed movement from the tower roof. Her question was answered as she saw a flash of red hair appear over the wall. Sigyn pulled away from Loki, leaving him leaning against the wall with his eyebrow raised.

Sigyn moved closer to the wall, straining to see what was going on above her. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she saw a man, who she could only assume was Selvig, pointing down towards the sceptre which was a few feet in front of her. She followed the agent as she moved to retrieve the sceptre.

"Oh no you don't..." Sigyn snarled, running forward and grabbing the sceptre.

She smiled as she saw Romanoff back away from the roof's edge. When she reached the entrance to the tower, Sigyn turned back towards Loki and winked at him. Before Loki could ask her what exactly she was planning on doing, Sigyn rushed through the entrance and made her way to the roof.

_Being a goddess has finally come in handy,_ she thought, as she ascended the stairs at a pace no mortal would be able to keep up with.

Romanoff backed away from the edge of the roof, shooting a warning look at Selvig, Her hands reached for the guns at her hips, just as Sigyn appeared on the roof before her, the sceptre still in her hands.

"And what _exactly_ were you two planning on doing with this, hmm?" Sigyn asked, her gaze moving from the scientist to the agent.

Romanoff and Selvig glanced at each other, clearly debating on whether to tell Sigyn the truth or not. For the first time, Romanoff understood exactly why Thor had told them not to trust her.

_Not that I want to admit it, but Sigyn is a _little_ scarier than I expected._

"I'd hurry up and answer me, I'm really _not_ in a patient mood..." Sigyn warned, as she paced slowly towards them.

As she got closer, Sigyn noticed Romanoff glance briefly over at the Tesseract. Sigyn slowly began to realise that there was some connection between the cube and the sceptre she was holding. She knew that the sceptre contained the same material as the cube, but she couldn't see why that would be important.

_The sceptre... Why would she need... No! She means to close the portal! _Sigyn thought to herself, her fists clenching around the sceptre.

Sigyn charged towards Romanoff, a swift kick sending the agent to the ground. Romanoff looked up to see Sigyn standing over her, the sceptre now lying discarded at the door behind her.

"Did you really think you could end things so easily?" Sigyn snarled, as Romanoff clutched her stomach.

Selvig moved his gaze from the two women to the sceptre that Sigyn had left at the door. As he reached it, he moved his hand to grasp it, only to be stopped by Sigyn's hand around his wrist.

"And I thought you were on our side," Sigyn pouted, her eyes giving away the anger that Selvig knew was about to be directed at him.

Sigyn pulled the doctor from the floor, and pushed him through the door that was now directly behind. She turned back towards Romanoff, not even caring to look at what had happened to the doctor.

Their attention was momentarily drawn by the roar which echoed from the balcony below them, followed by an all too familiar crash.

_That roar can only mean one thing..._Sigyn thought, fighting the urge to look at what was going on.

Romanoff pulled herself from the floor, wincing at the pain in her stomach. Sigyn laughed at how what she considered a minor injury, could cause the agent so much pain.

_Humans are so fragile._

* * *

"Stark! Can you hear me!" Fury shouted through his earpiece as he watched the second jet take off, unable to stop it.

Not waiting for a reply, he continued to relay his message;

"There's a missile heading straight for the city..." Fury continued, his worry creeping into his voice.

"How long?" Stark replied, his voice crackling as it entered Fury's earpiece.

"Three minutes, tops."

* * *

"I get it! Okay!" Romanoff shouted as her fist lashed out, making contact with Sigyn's jaw. "He's your husband... It's understandable that you'd help him..."

Sigyn wiped the blood from her lip and laughed.

"You think that's the only reason I'm doing this?" she replied, as she slammed the agent into the wall behind them.

Romanoff threw her hands out to stop herself from careering over the roof from the force of Sigyn's body. Before she even hit the ground she pushed herself away from the wall, her feet crashing into Sigyn's stomach.

_It's so much more fun to fight without my power..._ she thought to herself as staggered back slightly.

"What other reason could there be?" Romanoff retaliated, taking Sigyn's small moment of weakness to continue her onslaught.

_At least I know I've got some sort of chance against her... _Romanoff thought, as she realised Sigyn wasn't quite as strong as she expected her to be, _But she's freaking strong enough!_

Romanoff took her chance, and plunged the knife from her boot into Sigyn's side, hard enough to pierce her corset.

_Bitch... _Sigyn thought as she glanced down at the wound, which must have been deeper than it looked judging by the amount of blood which now dripped down her waist.

Sigyn finally regained her composure, just in time to catch the fist that swung in her direction. She twisted Romanoff's hand behind her back, hearing the woman wince as her arm was pulled a little too far behind her.

"_Thor_," Sigyn snarled as she tightened her grip on Romanoff's wrist.

"I've lost my home, my family... and almost my husband because of that fool!" she continued, crushing the bones in the agent's wrist with a thought.

"When Odin crowned him king... I will never forget the look on Loki's face," Sigyn said sadly, as her mind trailed back to that night.

"And it makes sense for me to blame Thor... He's the one who got me banished in the first place!"

Romanoff hissed at the feeling of every bone in her wrist breaking, only to have the pain worsened as Sigyn pulled her arm even tighter to her back, almost tearing it from the socket.

"And you plan on destroying Earth to get back at him?" Romanoff shouted, failing to hide the pain that seeped into her voice.

At her words, Sigyn slammed her foot into Romanoff's right knee, sending her crashing to the ground with a loud crack. She grabbed the agent's hair and wrenched her neck backwards, forcing her to look at her.

"If it was up to me... I'd destroy this damned planet and all of the _mortals_ he loves so much..." Sigyn whispered, her voice taking a sinister tone that made Romanoff's skin crawl.

They were interrupted by Stark, who flew above them holding the missile sent by the council. Sigyn released Romanoff, who crouched on the ground holding her wounded wrist and knee. Sigyn followed Stark, realising that he was taking the missile directly through the portal and to the rest of the Chitauri army.

"You are really pushing it now, _Iron Man!"_ Sigyn growled, as she stretched her hand up towards Stark, ignoring the pain that burned in her side at the movement

Romanoff screamed as she saw the missile explode above them at Sigyn's behest, her eyes following Stark as he fell to the ground. Sigyn turned away from the portal, happy in the knowledge that there was nothing that could stop her and Loki from winning and that she had finally gotten her revenge against the planet that had destroyed her life. She made to leave, but was stopped as Romanoff grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground.

Sigyn whipped her head around to see the woman attempting to pull herself up from the ground. She pushed herself up to stand and turned to stand over her.

"Just give up!" Sigyn laughed, as her boot made contact with Romanoff's ribs.

She smiled as she heard another satisfying crack as several of Romanoff's ribs broke. In a final attempt to silence her, Sigyn grabbed the agent by the throat, slamming her back into the concrete behind them.

"Nothing is going to stop me from finally having my revenge on this planet!"

* * *

"She hasn't closed it..." Rogers muttered, glancing up at the portal that was still producing Chitauri soldiers. "And the missile is...gone?"

"What are you talking about, Captain?" Thor asked, as he followed the Captain's gaze up to Stark Tower.

Rogers paused as he tried to piece together what had just happened. Only moments ago, Stark had warned them that the council were sending a nuclear missile to destroy the aliens, though it seemed that he had found a means of stopping that from happening.

"Romanoff went up there to shut down the portal but..."

He was interrupted as Stark came hurtling towards them. Their relief suddenly turned to fear, as they realised that Stark was not moving. At all.

Sigyn rushed through the doors to the tower's lounge, her breath hitched as her body finally registered the amount of blood she had lost during her fight with Romanoff. She pressed a hand to her wound, as gasped as she felt how deep it actually was.

_I know humans think we're immortal... but Valhalla that hurts! _she cursed mentally, as she allowed herself to drop to the ground, the sceptre in her hand falling to the floor. She slowly checked her body for other injuries, wincing as she felt the bruise that was now forming on her jaw.

As she leaned her head against the door frame, her eyes searched the room, coming to fall on the giant hole in the window. Her eyes strained as she noticed a faint outline of something very large, and green, in the distance.

_Banner... _she thought, wondering why he was at the tower in the first place.

Her question was answered as she saw Loki staggering towards her, his face covered in cuts and bruises. As he reached her, she attempted to stand, only to fall forward into his arms.

"Sigyn... what happened?" he asked her, his gaze moving from the bruises on her face, to the wound on her stomach.

"It doesn't matter..." she began, ignoring the pleading look on his face.

"All that matters is that the portal is _not_ going to close anytime soon."

* * *

Rogers pulled Stark's helmet away from his face, and reached for his neck to check for a pulse.

"What happened?" Barton called, as he joined them.

"He's gone," Rogers whispered, his gaze moving from each of his heroes to the other, "The blast must have killed him."

"Barton... did you see what happened from your position up top?" Rogers asked, turning towards the agent.

"The last thing I saw was Sigyn and Loki falling towards the tower, I never saw Loki move from the balcony so I can only guess Sigyn had something to do with it." He replied, with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"We're gonna have to call it in." Rogers said, reaching for his earpiece.

* * *

"Dead," Fury repeated, unable to believe what he was being told for the second time that day.

His words received questioning looks from the other S.H.I.E.L.D operatives on the ship, but he chose not to answer their questions just yet.

"And everyone else?" he asked, hoping the reply was better than his latest news.

"We're all here," came the reply, "Except Natasha, we haven't seen her since she left to close the portal."

"I'm here."

Both men went silent as Romanoff's voice crackled through their earpieces.

"Agent, are you okay?" Fury asked, noting the pained tone of her voice.

"I've been better... could do with a medic though."

"Where are you? I'll send a helicopter out to you."

"Stark...Tower," she replied, her voice coming out short rasps, "Up on the roof."


End file.
